Saskatchewan Liberals are gathering in Regina this weekend to discuss Aboriginal policy.
The Indigenous Education Summit will take place at the First Nations University of Canada on Saturday.
Event organizer Kevin Seesequasis says the Harper Conservatives have not taken a consultative approach with the First Nations Education Act and a Liberal government would do things differently.
“I think it’s important to recognize that this proposal was developed without any meaningful consultation, it proposes to impose new educational standards and it doesn’t provide any new resources,” he says. “It lacks a funding commitment, it doesn’t support culture and language education and the most important thing is it’s inconsistent with Indigenous rights.”
According to a recent Harris-Decima poll, the Liberals under new leader Justin Trudeau have jumped ahead to an eight-point lead on the Conservatives and Seesequasis adds he thinks it is because Aboriginals and all other Canadians are frustrated with the Harper government.
“I think what Idle No More taught us is that we can’t be idle. It taught us that if we are going to have our rights taken seriously, if we’re going to have that voice at the table, we have to be proactive about this.”
The meeting will be hosted by Saskatchewan Chair of the Joint Task Force on First Nations and Métis Education and former Liberal MP Gary Merasty.
The Liberals currently hold one federal seat in Saskatchewan with the Conservatives holding the other 13.